Apparatus for charging and compressing loosely charged coalwithin oven chambers



APPARATUS. FOR CHARGING AND GOMPRESSING LOOSELY Aug. 30, 1938. c STILL I ,1

CHARGED COAL WITHIN OVEN CHAMBERS Original Filed Jan. 25, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet l 32 I a4 32 6 :5; a as q 22x I I I 7 I Zhwentor l, 0m .smL,

2,128,438 GING AND COMPRESSING LOOSELY L WITHIN OVEN CH AMBERS 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 g- 3 1938- c. STILL APPARATUS FOR CHAR CHARGED GOA Original Filed Jan. 23,

Jnnen'tor CARL 577i L,

- x .l 4L M w W W Ma M .H....\...@.H.....M .H5.... z l7 2,128,438 G LOOSELY C. STILL APPARATUS FOR CHAR G AND COMPRESIN THIN OVEN CHA GIN CHARGED COAL WI MBERS Original Filed Jan. 25, 1932 Aug. 30

e sheets-sheet s inventor CARL 5mg APPARATUS FOR CHARGING AND COMPRESSING LOOSELY I CHA D COAL WITHIN OVEN CHAMBERS ginal Filed Jan. 23, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 fi 36 A as 5 ii igl Hg! c. STILL 2,128,438 GIN ING LQOSELY Aug. 30, 1938.

APPARATUS FOR CHAR G AND COMPRESS CHARGED COAL WITHIN OVEN CHAMBERS,

ed Jan. 23, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original. Fil

Junentor CARL STILL,

(Ittorneg Patented Aug. 30, 1938 UNITED STATES rarer cries Carl Still, Recklinghausen, Germany Original 588,405. Patent No. ber 17, 1935. September 14, 1935,

application January 23,

1932, Serial No.

2,014,400, dated Septem- Divided and this application Serial No. 40,641. In Germany January 25, 1931 '7 Claims.

The invention relates to apparatus for compressing loosely charged coal within oven chambers by mechanically operated means in combi nation with the production of ducts in the charge 5 of coal to be compressed within the oven chamber, these ducts being adapted for drawing off the volatile products of distillation. More particularly it relates to apparatus for carrying out the process described in specification Ser. 563,648 filed September 18, 1931, now Patent No. 2,002,614 and also for providing gas ducts within the compressed charge.

The present application is a division of my application Serial No. 588,405, filed January 23, 1932,

a which application issued on September 17, 1935 asPatent No. 2,014,400.

The drawings show in Figs. la and 1b, on the one hand, and Figs. 3a and 3b, on the other hand, two different constructions of an apparatus according to the invention.

Figs. 1a and lb, which may be considered as one figure, is a vertical section taken through the center of the. chamber of a horizontal coke oven,

' the left part showing an empty oven, and the right part a filled oven with the compressing tools and duct forming rods; and the upper part of Figs. la and 11) being a vertical section through the apparatus according to the present invention, showing at the left (Fig. la) a section on line I-I of 30 Fig. 2, and at the right (Fig. 1b) a section on line I-I of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the oven and the apparatus on line II-II of Fig. 1a.

Figs. 3a,, 3b and 4 correspond generally to Figs. la, 1b and 2, the section through the coke oven in Figs. 3a and 3b showing different stages of filling and compressing the coal charge. Fig. 3a. is a section through the apparatus on the line III- III of Fig. 4. Fig. 3b is a section on line III-III of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the oven and the apparatus in the line IVIV of Fig. 3a.

Fig. 5 shows in a larger scale details of the screws used for compressing the coal.

In Figs. la, lb, and 2, the number i designates the oven chamber which is closed on both sides by the doors 2, and is bounded above by the oven roof 3 and encloses the charge of loosely charged coal which is only partially indicated. In the 50 oven roof 3 there are eight charging openings 5 and the usual opening t for drawing off the gas.

An ascension pipe I is attached to the opening and opens, into the gas and tar main 9 with the insertion of a valve 8 for closing the said ascen- T3 sion pipe. This gas and tar main 9 serves for leading away the volatile products of distillation from the free gas collecting space l0 which lies between the surface of the charge of coal 4 and the arch of the oven roof 3. There are also provided in the oven roof 3 openings or apertures ll disposed between the charging openings 5. Each of the openings 5 l communicates by a lateral pipe 12 with a collecting pipe l3 disposed in the oven roof 3 over the whole length of the chamber. The

tube it is open to the atmosphere at the side of the oven adjacent to the gas and tar main 9 between the buckstays of the oven head and opens with the insertion of a closing and regulating valve it into a second gas and tar main it. The openings ii the roof serve for the insertion with suitable packing of tubes l6 for drawing off the gas and form the communication between the openings 4 l and special ducts I! to be formed in the prepared charge of coal 4.

The oven roof over the whole length of the battery and on which a coal charging car l9 runs which carries the apparatus according to the invention for charging and compressing the coal. The charging appa ratus comprises essentially a coal container 20 extending approximately over the whole length of the oven chamber provided with eight hoppers 2i adapted to register with the eight charging openings 5. Between the said containers 20 and hoppers 2| a horizontal feed roller 22 of cellular construction is inserted. The whole free cross-section of the cells of the latter, which determines the T quantity of the charge at each rotation, is modified, in oven chambers which are enlarged conically from one end ing extent over the length of the feed roller 22. This can extend over the whole length of the coal container 20 as a single unit or may be divided, if required, 'mto several parts in order to produce intermediate supporting points for its mounting. The feed roller 22 is rotated by a motor 45 and intermediate gearing 46. The container 20, pref erably has the cross-sectional form shown in Fig. 2, in which one longitudinal wall is vertical and the other is inclined; the direction of rotation of the roller 22 is shown by an arrow in Fig. 2. The coal charging car l0 contains two vertical pillars 23 which are connected at their upper ends by a cross-girder 24 and serve for guiding in the vertical direction a horizontal cross girder 25. The girder is suspended by two chains 20 which are led over rollers 2'! mounted in the pillars 23 and at their other ends are wound on winding drums 28. The winding drums 28 are secured to a shaft 29 3 carries two rails l8 extending to the other to a correspond- I and are operated in common by a motor 39 by means of gearing 3|.

This method of suspension of the girder 25 forms a parallel guiding and also the means for efiecting its vertical upward and downward movements. Eight vertical shafts 33 are suspended from the girder 25 in bearings 32 in the vertical axis of a charging opening 5 or the hopper 2! above the latter. Each of these vertical shafts 33 is driven by means of a pair of bevel wheels 34 by means of a horizontal intermediate shaft 35 mounted in the girder 25. The four intermediate shafts 35 in the right and left parts of Fig. 1 are also driven by a pair of bevel wheels 35 from a horizontal shaft 31 which is rotated by intermediate gearing 39 and M-from a motor 38 disposed on the girder 25. By the driving means described, all the eight vertical shafts 33 can be set in rotation simultaneously, with the same velocity and in the same direction. The shafts 33 are guided at their lower part by sleeves M acting as bearings and which are so supported in a casing 42 rigidly connected with the cover of. the hopper 2| that a small elastic lateral flexibility is imparted to them, for example by springs 43. The lower end of each shaft 33 carries a Worm 44 formed as a screw-thread which acts as the tool for compressing the coal.

The upper cross-girder 24 of the frame of the machine carriesthree bearings 48 for supporting a shaft 49 on which seven winding. drums 50 are secured. The shafts 49 of the winding drums are driven by a motor 5| supported on the crossgirder 24 by means of intermediate gearing 52.

On each of the chains 53 wound in the drums 50 a cylindrical iron rod 54, preferably pointed at its lower end, is suspended, and each of them lies in the verticalaxis of an opening I I of the oven roof 3. Each of the rods-591s guided at the lower end by an apparatus55, provided with lateral flexi bility, of the same construction andfastening as the apparatustl, 42, 33of the screw shafts 33-. These producing the gas withdrawal ducts charge tof the oven chamber.

The-previously mentionedanumber of eight hoppers 2!. oreight screw shafts 33'passing through I l l in the coal them andof seven intermediate forming rods-5 1 isonly given as-an optional example. The horizontal distance apart of the-screw shafts which determines their number is dimensioned-as far as 3 possible so that an approximately uniformcompression action is exertedon all the parts of the coal surrounding the screw shafts. A- lower limit of this distance apart is usually determined by the relativeposition of the hoppers Zion the coal charging car and the openings 5 and H onthe oven roof. In recent horizontal chamber ovens having a length of i2 to l3 meters, the numberof the screw, shafts. or chargingfunnels would preferably be from I2.-|6.

The action of the described apparatus can, for example, be carried out in the following. manner without excluding other possible methods of working.

After the oven chamber i has been emptied of the coke of the preceding charge and when both doors 2 have been again closed, the gas and tar mains 9 and l5-are both shut off by means of the apparatus 8 or land then all the duct forming devicesBd-are lowered; by means of the shaft 69 driven with the winding drums 59 secured thereon by means of .the motor 5i, and-pass through the apertures l Lof'the oven roof, the covers of which have been removed, into the empty-chamrods5l serve as duct forming devices for ber I until their lower ends rest on the sole of the chamber or reach close to it, as shown by the two rods 54' in the positions indicated in the right part of Fig. 1. The feed roller 22 is then set in rotation by its driving motor 85 and charges fresh coal into the chamber l' uniformly'over its whole length. At the same time, in which the charging of the coal is commenced, or after the coal has been introduced to a certain extent, or when the chamber has been completely filled, the girder 25 is moved-downwards with all the screw shafts 33 suspended to it by the motor 36 and the winding drums 23actuated by it, until the screws 44 begin to operate in the charged coal. A further action of the compressing tools in the coal charge can be effected in any of the different methods described in the specification of the patent applicationibearing Ser. No. 563,648 and filed September 18, 1931.

The coal can be compressed, therefore, on the the massof coal. During this operation of the screws, the, coal from above is still charged through the hoppers 2i andthe openings 5 in forming elements 54 remaining in the charge of coal act as cores to prevent any destruction of the ducts produced by them due'to the compression.

tight connection with the openings H and its lower. end, which projects a certaindistance into the duct ll, is in gas-tight connection'with' the latter.

After all the openings H and also the charging openings 5 have been closed by replacing the covers and the valve M has been opened and suitably adjusted, the volatile products of distillation are drawn off from the ducts. ll and are led by the tubes it through the pipes l2 and the collectingtube [3 into the gas and tar main l5. At the same time, or at any later stage, the products of distillation can be drawn off by suction, by opening the valve 8', fromthe gas collecting space H] through the opening Gin the roofand the ascen must be taken in drawing off the products that the pressure of the gas in the collecting space it is maintained as usual at a value of approximately 3:0 mm. of the water gauge relatively to the external atmospheric pressure, while the ducts H are exposed to a partial vacuum considerably exceeding the usual value and which may amount to 200 mm. and more of the water gauge.

The apparatus described enables, and this is a new feature of the invention, the forming rods 54 which have been introduced from above through special openings in the roof to be maintained in the charge of coal and at the same time compressing tools which have been introduced through other openings serving for charging, to be brought into operation on the parts of coal lying between any two forming rods.

This enables gas withdrawal ducts to be pro-' duced in the charge of coal unhindered by the compression. In this way by the construction of the apparatus, the means for operating the forming rods 54 and the screw shafts 33, acting as compressing tools, are quite independent of one another.

This independencealso enables the subsequent operations, which are to be considered as a useful complement of the above described method of working, to be carried out in a particularly advantageous manner.

After the compression has been finished and the screw shafts .33 and the duct forming rods 54 have been removed from the oven chamber, in order to level and compress the surface of the charge 4, the latter is levelled, preferably after a further small quantity of fresh coal has been charged, by a levelling rod which is introduced in the usual manner through a corresponding opening 6| of the door 2 on the right side of Fig. 1. This levelling also effects the compression of the surface part of the charge 4. This compression can be increased by a suitable construction of the levelling rod. For this purpose the apparatus described in the specification of the patent application bearing Ser. No. 520,169 and filed March 4, 1931, is, preferably, employed, in which a levelling rod provided with pressure rollers is employed and which is secured by suitable guiding against yielding either upwards or downwards; in this case the second door 2 must be provided with a corresponding opening for the passage of the levelling rod.

This levelling and compressing of the surface of the coal obviates any incompleteness in the compressed condition of the parts of the surface which might occur during the operation of the compressing tools in consequence of the fact that the uppermost particles of coal are giving way. Since during this levelling process, small particles of coal might enter and block the ducts ll formed by the rods 54, in order to clear the ducts ll the rods 54 are again lowered from above into and possibly to the bottom of the charge of coal 4. This subsequent application of the rods 54 is facilitated essentially by their independent action. The tubes I6 for withdrawing the distillation products are then inserted after the final withdrawal of the duct forming rods.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 3a, 3b and 4 differs only from the described apparatus shown in Figs. la, lb and 2 by modified means for suspending and moving in the vertical direction the duct forming rods 54.

In this construction, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3a and 3b, the upper ends of the forming rods 54 are suspended from the same girder 25 which carries the screw shafts 33 and their operating mechanism. For this purpose, cross pieces 56 of U-shaped irons are fastened on the under side of the girder 25 in the axial direction of each forming rod 54, by means of which the rods 54 passing freely through the cross members are suspended by semi-spherical heads 51. The rods 54 are guided at their lower ends by the bearings 55 in the same manner as in Figs. la and 1b. The upper ends of the rods 54 slide freely and are freely displaceable in the U-shaped irons 56.

The position of the forming rods 54 shown in Figs. 3a and 3b, in which their heads 51 rest on the U -irns 56, is, therefore, their lowest position relatively to the girder 25 or to the screw shafts '33 secured to the latter. In this lowest position, the lower ends of the forming rods 54, as shown in Fig. 31), extend for a certain distance it below the lower ends of the screw shafts 33; as, shown in the right part of Fig. 3b. The amount of this. difference of level It is preferably about equal to the distance between a forming rod 54 and an adjacent screw shaft 33, but it may be still greater.

The particular suspension of the rods 54 from the girder 25, as shown in Figs. 3a, 3b and 4, has the advantage over the devices shown in Figs.

1 and 2, not only as can be seen directly, of a considerable simplification in the construction, but also of improvements in the method of operation which will be described later. For this method of operation, theform and construction of the screws 44 as shown in Fig. 5, may be used with advantage, but they can be used also with other constructions in practising the principle the invention.

In Fig. 5, 33 denotes the screw shafts and 44 the actual screws. The compressing tool 44 forms a screw surface, which in the example illustrated, consists of a strong, suitably bent and Wound steel sheet welded to the shaft 33. The external or circumferential edge of the screw-thread is formed by the helical line A, B, C, D which, e. g., includes one or two pitches and a half of the screw-thread.

The profile forming the axial section of the thread of the worm appears at the lower end as the curved line A, E, at the upper end as the straight line D, F. The corresponding profile at the central point E of the circumference of the screws is represented by the curve B, G. As is seen in the drawings, the shape of the profile varies over the height of the screws. At the upper end D the profile curve D, F, or the generator of the helical surface, is a straight line which is approximately rectangular, that is, is inclined at an angle a of about 75 to the axis of the screw 44 of the shaft 33. At the lower end A, the profile curve AE is bent upwards in a curved manner, so that its angle of inclination s at the inner end, at E, again approximates to the corresponding angle of inclination a. of the upper profile curve D, E, that is, is less than a right angle; on the other hand the angle of inclination of the outer end at A is very acute, about 15 The profile curves of theintermediate central parts of the screw-thread, for example B G, pass gradually into the above-mentioned limiting profiles at the upper and lower ends. The screw, however, is, as will be seen directly, so formed that the profile curve of the under side, which is of. principal importance, is inclined upwards from the axis to the circumference. The outer diameter M of the screw is about equal to half the width W (Fig. 4) of the oven chamber I, and the pitch H of the screw measured, for example, between the points A and C is about equal to one and a half times the diameter M (Fig.

In coking chambers, tapered in the longitudinal direction, the diameter M would be correspondingly varied, that is, where the coking chamber is smallest, the diameter would be least, and at thepart where the coking chamber is widened would be correspondingly increased, in order that each individual screw should be adapted to the width of the chamber at that part in order to compress the displaced volume .of coal, which obviously is dependent on the diameter or cross-section of the screw-thread. The variation of the form of profile over the height of the screw is intended to exert different actions in the charge of coal surrounding and actuated by the screws. At the upper end D of the screw, the pressure is exerted downwards, and obviously acts generally at each point of the surface of the under side at right angles to the surface of the screw in the direction of the arrow a, that is mainly parallel to the axis of the screw.

- The charge of coal is, therefore, displaced mainly downwards in the axial direction, that is the upper portion of the screw acts essentially only to advance the charge. At the lower end A of the screw, at least near its peripheral parts, which effect the main part of the work of the screw, the action of the pressure as shown by the arrow 1) is more in the horizontal outward direction than downwards; there is at this part, there fore, a lateral displacement of the mass of coal and mainly a compression efiect. Therefore, the whole action of the screw can be expressed by its upper portion advancing the constantly entering charge of fresh coal to the lower part, which then effects the compression of this charge.

In order that there should be a constant new supply of fresh coal from above into the interior, as afurther essential characteristic of the invention, an arm 58 of sheet iron is connected to the upper end D of the screw parallel to the axis of the screw shaft 33 and at its upper end is bent towards the axis and is secured to a sleeve 59 surrounding the shaft 33. This arm 58, of which the height is about equal to twice the diameter M of the screw, acts, on the rotation of the screw 44, as a knife blade in the charge of coal surrounding it, to divide and distribute it and insures a constant new supply of coal to the screw in the manner described later.

It should be noted that all the preceding numerical and other data with regard to the construction and proportioning of the screw, are simply given as examples and can be modified to a greater or less extent. A further modification consists in the screws, instead of being formed with a single thread, being double-threaded. The double-thread construction provides for each working step an axially symmetrical distribution of all the forces in relation to the screw and screw shaft, and a more uniform distribution of the power andthe compression action on the charge of the oven chamber. The construction of the screw 44 is obviously not restricted to the use of steel sheet for the screw thread. Instead of this, the whole member consisting of the shaft 33, the screw-thread M, and the blade 58 might be made of a single piece of cast steel.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 3a, 3b, 4 and 5 is operated as follows:

After the oven chamber I has been discharged,

it is prepared for the reception of a new charge of coal by replacing both doors 2, shutting off the two gas and tar mains 9 and I5 and opening all the openings 5 and H in the roof. The girder 25 with the screw shafts 33, at rest, are lowered by the motor 33 and the winding drums 28 into its lowest position 25' which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3b. In this position, the lower ends of the screw shafts 33 extend nearly to the sole of the oven chamber I, while the lower ends of the forming rods 56 rest on the sole itself; see the representation of 33 and 54' in Fig. 3b on the right. The upper ends of the rods 54 have thereby been displaced in the U irons 56 upwards, so that their heads 51 take up the higher position 57 (Fig. 3b) relatively to the girder 25. After the screws and the duct forming means have attained their lowest position in the oven chamber, the feed roller 22 is set in rotation by its driving motor and thereby fresh coal is charged into the oven chamber I, uniformly over its whole length. As soon as the constantly charged coal has attained a level, such that its surface entirely covers the screws t4 and the projecting blades 58 only for a portion of their height, the screw shafts 33 are lifted by the upward movement of the girder 25 and at the same time are set in rotation.

The direction of rotation of the screw shafts 33'is such that the screws are drawn through the mass of coal upwards uniformly by the purely helical movement. If the screws are assumed to be right handed, as shown in the drawings, a left handed rotation, as seen from above, is employed. The screws must be raised in approximately the same time as the surface 60 of the coal due to the charging of the fresh coal piled up so that the level of this surface remains essentially the same relatively to the screws 44 and their blades 58. Also, a relation must be maintained between the speed at which the compressing tools are raised and their rotation velocity such that the upward movement of the screws per rotation is less than their pitch 71, that is the screws are accelerated. This means (see Fig. 5) that a central point R of the periphery of the screw M, as seen from the front, advances upwards in the direction R K which has a less inclination to the horizontal than the tangent R L at the point R has to the surface of the screw. For example, the upward velocity is so adjusted to the rotational velocity that this upward velocity per rotation is about half to onethird or still less of the pitch h of the thread.

By this means, a constant pressure is exerted from the under side of the helical surface 44 on the surrounding mass of coal and, on account of the above-mentioned form of the profile of the screw, in directions which are partly downwards and partly laterally outwards (see the arrows c and b in Fig. 5).

This results in a compression of the coal charge not only within the screws themselves, but also in the spaces lying between adjacent screws and on each side of them. An orderly displacement of the particles of coal in the downward and lateral directions from the screws is effected, as direct experiment has proved. The vertical blades 58 rotating with the screws M divide and distribute constantly the coal which is piled directly above the screws and insure that new freshly charged coal is introduced in constant amounts from above to the screws 44. Consequently, so long as the upper surface 60 of the coal does not completely cover the blades 58, the screws cannot be bridged over by charges of coal which would interfere with the progress of compression and an uninterrupted continuous compression of the whole freshly charged coal is insured throughout the whole charge and throughout the entire charging operation.

As the girder 25 meets its upward movement from its lowest position 25, at first only the rotating screw shafts 33 are raised, while the duct forming rods 54 remain still on the sole of the oven chamber 1. The rods 54 remain in this position until the position 25 of the girder has been reached which is higher than the position 25' by the distance it. In this position 33" of the screws and 56 of the duct forming rods, there is the same difference of level h between the lower ends of these members (see Fig. 3b). This difference of level remains, on the further raising of the girder 25 and the suspended screw shafts and duct forming rods.

The effect of this difference of level is, that the mass of coal, pressed downwards and sideways by the screws, where it encounters the duct forming rods 5d suspended between the screws always find a resisting core which prevents the constriction of the ducts ll already formed in the mass of coal. When the coal has been completely charged into the oven chamber, that is, up the required level below the arch of the roof, and has been compressed, the feed rollers 22, and thereby the charge of fresh coal into the chamber, are stopped. The girder 25 continues to be raised. From this time the lower ends of the screws 44 are first removed from the surface of the compressed body of coal and somewhat later the lower ends of the forming rods 54 are raised upwards from the ducts i'l formed by them. Preferably, the rotation of the screw shafts is stopped at the moment at which they are withdrawn completely from the coal. After the girder is again raised into its highest initial position and the screws 44 and the duct forming rods 54 are thereby raised completely above the roof 3, the coal charging car is moved away from the ovens that have been charged, in order to prepare the'oven chamber for the distillation process. The further necessary operation of inserting the tube M5 for withdrawing the distillation products (see Fig. 3a), the covering of the openings H in the roof and the charging openings 5, the connecting of the gas and tar mains l5 and, if required, 9, are the same as in the example of the construction shown in Figs. 1a and 11).

Also, the processes described therein for levelling and compressing before the insertion of the tube M5 for withdrawing the gas are carried out. The further necessary insertion of the duct forming rods 54 into the ducts I! for clearing them out, can be carried out in the apparatus according to Figs. 3a, 3b and 4, but only to a limited extent which corresponds to the above-mentioned distance of level h, because the screws M which have been lowered with the duct forming rods 54 would form an obstacle for their. lower insertion.

In the last described construction, according to Figs. 3a, 3b, 4 and 5, the whole charging of the chamber and coal and its compression was effected with one upward movement of the screw shafts 33 and screws 44 in a single operation, and also the row of ducts I! were formed. The whole process is effected with great rapidity. For example, the whole duration of the insertion of the duct forming rods and screws, the charging and compression of the coal, and the movement of the duct forming rods and screws in a coke oven chamber of 4 metres height was only two minutes. This extraordinarily high efficiency is of extreme importance for the working of modern coke ovens with their known high output.

From the preceding descriptions of the method of working it is seen that for the exact sequence of operations, the starting and stopping of the different working parts, an essential condition is that the oven chamber should be filled into the correct amount with coal and at the same time the correct amount of compression of the coal should be obtained on the whole and also in the individual parts of the chamber.

This co-operation of the different operating members according to a predetermined time re lation is advantageously carried out, since usually only electric motors are used, by a corresponding positively effected control of the making and interruption of the electric current for the different motors. For this purpose, for example, control rollers of usual construction which rotate in a given order, may be used to effect automatically the making and breaking of the electric currents to operate the motors in their proper sequence.

What I claim is: Y I

i. A coal charging apparatus for charging horizontal coking chambers, having in combination a coal bunker, a series of hoppers depending from said bunker and adapted to receive material therefrom. a frame structure associated with said bunker and hopper structure, a group-of Vertically movable duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure and adapted to be lowered to a position within a coking chamber and withdrawn therefrom, a group of vertically movable compressing elements also adapted to be positioned within the coking chamber, said mandrels and compressing elements alternately arranged throughout the length of the chamber, and means for raising and lowering said two groups of elements, the group of compressing elements being independently movable with respect to the group of duct-forming mandrels.

2. A coal charging apparatus for charging horizontal coking chambers, having in combination a coal bunker, a series of hoppers depending from said bunker and adapted to receive material therefrom, a frame structure associated with said bunker and hopper structure, a group of vertically movable duct forming mandrels carried by said frame structure and adapted to be lowered to a position within a coking chamber and Withdrawn therefrom, a group of elements also movable to a position within the coking chamber, said mandrels and the other elements alternately arranged throughout the length of the chamber, and means for raising and lowering said two groups of elements, the last mentioned group of elements carrying compressing screws for the coal charge within the coking chamber and being independently movable with respect to the group of duct-forming mandrels for compressing the coal charge around said mandrels.

3. A coal charging car for charging horizontal coking chambers, having in combination a coal bunker, a series of hoppers associated therewith and depending therefrom, a frame structure carried by said car and extending above the same, a group of vertically arranged duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure, means for lowering said duct-forming mandrels to a position below the car body and within a coking chamber, a group of elements also adapted to be lowered to a position within the coking chamber,

said mandrels and the other elements alternately arranged throughout the length of the chamber, and means for raising said two groups of elements to an inactive position outside of the coking chamber, the second group of elements carrying'compressing means at their lower ends and each of said last mentioned elements and its compressing means adapted to pass through one of the depending hoppers as said rods are being raised and lowered.

4. A coal charging apparatus for charging horizontal coking chambers, having in combination a coal bunker, a series of hoppers depending from said bunker and adapted to receive material therefrom, a horizontal feed roller arranged between said bunker and the hoppers, a frame structure associated with said bunker and said hopper structure, a group of vertically movable duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure and adapted to be lowered to a position within a coking chamber and withdrawn therefrom, a group of vertically movable compressing elements also adapted to be positioned within the coking chamber, said mandrels and compressing elements alternately arranged throughout the length of the chamber, and means for raising and lowering said two groups of elements, the group of compressing elements being independently movable with respect to the group of ductforming mandrels.

5. A coal charging apparatus for charging horizontal coking chambers, having in combination a coal bunker, a series of hoppers depending from said bunker and adapted to receive material therefrom, a frame structure associated with said bunker and hopper structure, a group of vertically arranged duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure and adapted to be lowered to a position within a coking chamber and withdrawn therefrom, a group of vertically arranged compressing elements also movable to a position within the coking chamber, said mandrels and compressing elements alternately arranged throughout the length of the chamber, means for raising and lowering both groups of elements including a vertically movable horizontally arranged girder to which the compressing elements are attached, and means carried by said girder for rotating said last mentioned elements, which last mentioned elements carry at their lower ends compressing screws for the coal charge in the coking chamber and are independently raised and lowered with respect to the group of duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure.

6. A coal charging apparatus for charging horizontal coking chambers, a frame structure mounted above the coking chambers, a group of vertically arranged duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure and adapted to be lowered to a position within a coking chamber and withdrawn therefrom, a group of vertically arranged compressing elements also movable to a position within the coking chamber Where they cooperate with the duct-forming mandrels to compress. the coal thereabout, and means for raising and lowering said two groups of elements, the group of compressing elements being inde pendently movable with respect to the group of duct-forming mandrels.

7. A coal charging apparatus for charging horizontal coking chambers, a frame structure mounted above the coking chambers, a group of vertically arranged duct-forming mandrels carried by said frame structure and adapted to be lowered to a position within a coking chamber and withdrawn therefrom, a group of vertically aranged compressing elements also movable to a position within the coking chamber where they cooperate with the duct-forming mandrels to compress the coal thereabout, and means for raising and lowering said two groups of elements, the group of compressing elements being independently movable with respect to the group of duct-forming mandrels and the raising and lowering mechanism being so constructed and arranged that when raising both groups of elements the compressing elements are withdawn from the coking chamber in advance of the withdrawal of the duct-forming mandrels.

CARL STILL. 

